Machine for stemming cherries and other fruit



F. THOMAS. MACHINE FOR STEMMl-NG CHERRIES ND OTHER FRUIT. APPLICATIONFILED SEPT. 29. i921.

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F. THOMAS. wmcHlNE Foa snmp/UNG CHEBRIES AND OTHER mun.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29| 1921. lppl Patented Oct. My 31922.v

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IABM? FERNAND THOMAS, OF PARIS, FIR-ANCE, ASSIGNOR TO DUNKLEY COMPANY,OF KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FCR STEMMING CHERRIES AND OTHER FRUIT.

Application 'filed September 29, 1921.

To all w imm t may concern Be it known that I, FERNAND THOMAS, a citizenof the Republic ot' France, residing at Paris, France, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Stemming Cherriesand Other Fruit, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in machines for stemmingcherries and other fruits. j

The objects of the invention are,

First, to provide special means for the distribution of the cherries;

Second, to provide improved means of stemming clusters of cherries, and

Third, vto provide improved means of stei'nming the single cherriesafter the clusters have been eliminated and separated.

Objects pertaining todetails and economies of construction and operationwill detinitely appear from the detailed description to follow. Iaccomplish the objects ot' my invention by the devices and meansdescribed in the following specification. The invention is clearlydefined and pointed out in the claims.

A structure which is a preferred embodi` ment of my invention is fullyillustrated in the acompanying drawing, forming a part ot' thisaplication, in which:

I is a detail side elevation view, par tially in section and partiallydiagrammatic, sl'iowing the entire assembly of my invenw tion. v

Fig. II is a detail view through the shaker conveyor.` taken on line'a-c of Fig. I.

Fig. III is a detail side elevation view4 partially in section, on anenlarged scale, ot the cluster stemming mechanism and means.

Fig. IV is a detail elevation view of a portion of the cluster elevatingmeans as seen from the right of Figs. I and III.

Fig. V is an enlarged detail view of the cluster stripping comb z'.

VI is an enlarged detail side elevation view of the mechanism torstemming the single fruits.

Fig. VII is a detail transverse sectional view oit the structureappearing in Fie'. VI.

Fia'. VIII :is a plan vview of the iroller' parts with the troughs andbrushes omitted, showing the driving means therefor.

In the drawing similar reference charac- Serial No. 594,101.

ters refer to similar parts throughout'the several views, and I wish tosay in this behalf that letters are used instead ot' i'gures tocorrespond to a corresponding French patent.

The distributing' means is characterized b the combination of a cylinderhaving lon gitudinal grooves intended to receive the fruit and a movableshutter forming part of the bottom ot the feed hopper, the iree edge ofwhich remains vconstantly in contact with the cylinder, preventing anycrushing of the fruit. A brush'parallel to the cylinder and above thesaine regulates the quantity of fruit admitted in each of the grooves.

Below the cylinder is a shaker frame that uniformly spreads the fruit topass the same to the next operation ofstemming the clusters.

The device for stemming the clusters is an endless belt or chaindisposed obliquely upward to carry the fruit from the discharge end ornthe shaker frame. The endless belt or chain is provided with upwardlyinclined hooks with blunt ends on which the cherry stems straddle asthey are poured out or thrown over from the shaking frame. These hooksbring the cherry clusters to combs i which strip the fruit from thesemultiple stems, which stems are thus collected by the hook anddeliveredv into suitable discharge troughs.

The stemming of the single cherries is accomplished by the series ofinclined troughs, the bottom of each trough having a longitudinal slit.rIhe single cherries not being engaged by the cluster stemming devicedescend into a suitable hopper and are discharged into these slightlyinclined troughs at the upper ends. Endless belt brushes with spacedtufts are disposed above and substantially parallel with each trough andadvance the fruit by rolling it in such a way that the stems roll downand project into the slots. 'A pair of rolls is disposed beneath eachslot and engage and pull oil' the stems, and the cherries pass on andare discharged into a hopper, and thence delivered to the pittingmachine y, here indicated by diagram.

Y Consideringthe drawings in detail, in Fig. I the distributing means isseen to comprise a feed hopper a, having an inclined bottom of which thepart b is supported by the hinge b. The free end of this movable part orshutter rests upon the periphery of the distributing cylinder c, the topof which turns from the said shutter. The cylinder c is provided withlongitudinal grooves c. It is thus clear that in this manner fruit suchas cherries cannot pass between the cylinder and shutter and thereforenone canbe lost or crushed.

Above the cylinder c and parallel therewith is disposed a brush CZrevolving as indicated by the arrow. The brush. is placed on adjustablesupports, not shown, so that it can be raised and lowered to effect theproper control of the amount delivered by the distributing cylinder.Feeding of the machine is thus regulated.

The fruit falls from the cylinder c to 'the shaker frame e whichoscillates quite rapidly. `'lllhe actuation is effected by a pitmanconnection to the eccentric shaft el. The hopper is mounted onsuspension springs or in any other appropriate manner. y

.The object of the frame e is to spread the shaking fruit uniformly anddeliver it to the stemming means. The bottom of this shaker may besmooth, perforated, or it may be. corrugated as indicated at e2 incorrugations parallel lengthwise thereof, as shown yin Fig. II. In casethe cluster stemming device is not required, this groojvcd shaker couldguide the fruit into the correspending` troughs where stemming of singlefruit takes place, as herein described.

The cluster stemming device consists of an inclined canvas belt runningon shafts g1 gland carrying hooks 7i upwardly inclined, of proper formand spacino'. with rounded ends so as not to damage the fruit. Above thehooks and (xo-operating with them are the combs fi, shown in Fi V. Thefruit, as cherries, that comes from the shaker e falls on this 'canvasf, the single fruit passes between the hoolrsiand is guided by an apronor hopper y' and falls intothe stemming trough slots 71:, hereafterdescribed. The cluster cherries, whether two or more, are engaged by theupwardly moving hooks 71l which carry them up' and the hooks passthrough the combs i, which combs engage and detach the fruit from thestems. The stems detach themselves from the hooks on the descendingcourse of the canvas and fall into the discharge conduit Z (Fig. III).In-

.trough slots 7:, and this tends to augment the capacity of the machineand save undue handling of these cherries. The slotted troughs le forthe stemmingof single fruit are inclined as shown in Fig. I. A plurailtyof these troughs is employed, corresponding to the capacity of themachine. The slotted troughs are provided in their bottoms with slits clVII). For cherries these slits are approximately one centimeter wide.

.there each slotted trough and parallel to it are traveling brushes (jof suitable length ainlsuppleness which are mounted on the endless chain'r carried by sprockets r1 mounted on the shafts r2 rr'. One shaft, sayr2, can be actuated by the shaft a (see Fig. I), These brushes sweep thebottom of each slotted trough and carry and roll the fruit in such a waythat the stems pass through the slots in -the bottom. rlhe brushes arespaced at suitable intervals to allow the fruit to tumble and roll as itde scends through the troughs.

Umlerneath each lslot and very near are placed two parallel rolls t1'152. One of these rolls is actuated, for example, by the use of gearsu1 u2. The latter is keyed on a shaft c dri ren by the principal shaftby means of an intermediate shaft r2.

The stems of the fruit that pass in the slits l are engaged by the rollst1 t2 and pulled ofi'. The fruit is'retained in the troughs and carriedto the end of them by the combined effect of the brushes and theincline.

The rolls t] t2 can be covered with rubber or with any kind ofrubberized coating, or present a work surface of inetal. They can besmooth, knnrled. or have designs of Va' rions forms to assure a surehold of the stems. One of them, or both of them, can be equipped with aprojecting"spiral i; in order to facilitate the action of stemming.

'The stennned fruit falls into a hopper a:

which conducts it to the pitting machine y/ (Fig. I).

By referring` to Fig. I it will be seen that the principal shaft s maydrive the cylinder C, thebrush CZ, the shaft el, the shaft r2 of thebrushes and through this one the shaft ,ci for the hooks 7L and theshaft u of the stemmer roll, through chains or belting or other means.

The condition of the fruit may not require all. of the aboveinstrumentalities. It may be that there are few clusters; if so thecluster stemming means might be dispensed with, The devices illustratedin Figs. VI, VII and VIII are also capable of stemming cluster fruit,and it Would be possible to dispense with the features appearing inFigs. lll, lV and V. However, the uses of the structure appearing inFigs. lll, lV and V assure the best results and a surer operation of theentire machine.

The structures here illustrated are more or less diagrammatic and areonly given as eX- amples. Forms and dimensions and materials employedand the arrangement of details can be varied in all cases Withoutchanging the? principle of the invention. l desire to claim theinvention in the specific form illustrated, and also broadly, as pointedout in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a cherry stemming` machine, the combination of a feed hopper, adischarging cylinder with longitudinal cori.'ugati ims therein toreceive the fruit, a movable hinged bottom, the free edge of which isdisposed to rest upon the said cylinder, an adjustable rotary brushdisposed above the said cylin der to regillate the amount of fruitcarried by said cylinder, a` shaking hopper beneath said cylindercontaining longitudinal corru- A,fr-ations. an uinvardly inclinedconveyer with forwardly disposed hooked tingers thereon to leive fruitfrom said shaker and engage the stems of the clusters of fruit, astripping comb disposed above said shaker and in position to coact withthe hooks on said conveyor to stem the clusters of fruit, dischargingtroughs for the stems and fruit associated with said conveyer, a hopperbeneath said conveyor, slotted inclined troughs beneath said hopperpositioned to receive the said fruit with single stems, tufted brusheson endless conveyers disposed and spaced and arrangeifl to move andadvance the fruit in said troughs. and pairs of stripping rolls undereach o' the said slots to pull the stems,

specified.

Q. ln a ':liun'ry stennnii i'niuhinetheconr hinatiou oi" a feedlir'ippei, a discharging cyl-V inder with longitiulinal corrugationstherein to receive the fruit, a movable hinged bottom, the free edge ofwhich is disposed to rest upon the said cylinder, and an adjustablerotary brush disposed above the said cylinder to regulate the amount offruit carried by said cylinder.

8 In a cherry stemming machine, the combination of a feed hopper, adischarging` cylinder with longitudinal corrugations therein to receivethe fruit, a movable hinged bot` tom, the free edge of which is disposedto rest upon the said cylinder, and a .rotary brush disposed above thesaid cylinder to regulate the amount o'llr fruit carried by saidcylinder.

i. In a cherry stemmin machine, the com` binat-ion of a feed hopper, adischarging cylinder with longitudinal corrugations therein to receivethe fruit, a movable hinged bottom, the free edge of which is disposedto rest upon the said cylinder, a rotary brush disposed above the saidcylinder, and a shaking hopper beneath the said cylinder containinglongitudinal eorrugations.

5. ln a. cherry stemming machine the combination of a feed mechanismcomprising a shaking hopper with longitudinal corrugations therein, anupwardly inclined conveyer With forwardly disposed hooked fingersthereon to receive fruit from said shaker and engage the stems of theclusters ot fruit, a stripping comb disposed above said shaker and inposition to coact with the hooks on said conveyor to stem the clustersof fruit, discharging troughs for the stems and tf1-uit associated withsaid conveyor, a hopper beneath said conveyor, slotted inclined troughsbeneath said hopper positioned to receive the said fruit with single steis, tuttcd brushes on endless conveyers disposed and spaced and arrangedto move. and advance the fruit in said troughs, and pairs of strippinglrolls under each of the said slots to pull the stems, as specified.

t3. ln. a cherry stemming machine the combina-tion of a feed mechanismcomprising a shaking' hopper with longitudinal corrugations therein, anupwardly inclined conveyer with forwardly disposed hooi-:ed fingersthereon to receive fruitfroni said shaker and engage the stems of theclusters .of fruit, a stripping comb disposed above said shaker and inposition to coact with the hooks on said conveyor to stem the clustersof fruit, a hopper beneath` said eonveyer, slotted inclined troughsbeneath said hopper positioned to receive the said fruit vfith singlestems, tufted brushes on endless conveyors disposed and spaced andarranged to move and advance the fruit in said troughs, and pairs ofstripliving rolls under each of the said slots to pull the stems, asspecified.

i". Ain a cherry stemming machine the com` bination of a feed mechanismcomprising a shaking hopper with longitudinal corrugatious thereiii. anuiiiwardly inclined conveyer with forwardly disposed hooked tiigersthereon to .receive fruit from said shaker and engage the stems of theclusters of fruit, and ay stripping comb disposed above said shaker andin position to coact with the hooks on said conveyor to stem theclusters of fruit.

8. ln a cherry stemming means the eombination oif slotted inclinedtroughs toy receive the fruit, tufted brushes on endless conveyorsdisposed and s iaced and arranged to move and advance the fruit in saidtroughs, and pairs et' stripping rolls under each of said slotsl to pullthe stems, as speciiicd.

S). ln a. cherry stemmirm means the combination of slotted inclinedtroughs to receive the fruit, brushes on endless Conveyers disthe stemsof cherries, means for carrying posed and spaced and arranged to moveand said hook devices upward, and stripper advance the fruit in saidtroughs, and pairs means coacting therewith to stem the l0 of strippingrolls under each of said slots to cherries. 5 pull the stems, asspecified. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my 10. In a cherrystemming machine the hand and seal. combination of hook devices forengaging FERNAND THOMAS. [Ls]

